Chinese Android phone maker Star have released the quad-core MT6589 Star S5 Butterfly phone, but rather than producing an all new an unique design have chosen to clone the HTC Butterfly.
Gizchina News of the week
As the name suggests the Star S5 Butterfly is a 5-inch HTC Butterfly clone which boasts similar black and red styling but at the more wallet friendly price of $222.99. Like most of the 2013 Star line-up, the S5 packs Mediatek’s MT6589 quad-core processor, 5-inch display and Android 4.2 Jelly Bean as standard.
The 5-inch panel is a 720p HD unit to help keep costs low, and there is 1GB RAM, but the phone still supports dual-sim support, SD card memory expansion plus a 3 mega-pixel front and 8 mega-pixel rear camera.
If you fancy getting your hands on the quad-core, Star S5 Butterfly then head over to Uredeal where they are currently listing the phone in stock.
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What I want to know is why all chinese phones use the MT6589 proccessor on 1.2ghz?
Why dont they use qualcom 1.5ghz like xiaomi mi2?
To keep costs low
Well…I had a bad experience with this brand and decided NEVER buy a Star phone again. I had one Star A2000 with lcd bug…I simply lost it after 2 months of use.
Totally agree. I bought a Star A1000 (hd7 clone) and the screen was a torture to use. Since then I see first youtube reviews. Anyway, although 200 bucks to another cell phone is cheap for a Star phone is a very risky and expensive bet IMHO.
There at least three different companies making Star branded phones. They all started out as the one company, but in time they split in different companies. For example, one of these companies is Ulefone/Shenzhen Star Technology Co/Gotron who make phone know as Star or iStar brand.
You’re right Roger about Ulefone though I thought Gotron don’t make smartphones? They appear to make TV related devices/accessories?
Ulefone don’t seem to have any kind of web presence whatsoever which is strange these days.
I saw a review of this phone on youtube and the camera is 6MP not 8MP or 12 MP as advertised
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=rfef5VblDL8#t=679s
The camera was 6 megapixel – because it is set to take a pictures in 16:9, normally, it should be 8 mpix:)
This is probably correct as the similar Star/HDC X920 and UMI S1 can be found listed with 8MP rear and 5MP front but cropped to 16:9 they may be correctly listed as 6MP and 4 MP as the full sensor image is being cropped from 4:3 to 16:9.
The decal on the back for 12:0 will be interpolated/extrapolated 16:9 image i.e. not a lie just marketing fluff.
6MP rear and 4MP front. Also the Google search bar appears to stay as Chinese characters in the ROM on the videos.
I was going to order this, but man, I’m starting to doubt. The specs are off on the box on the video (for instance is says 4,3 inch!!), the phone says 12 Mp camera on the back and it’s really a 6 Mp. How can they be so careless with details?
How do we even know the 2500 mAh battery is real?
Don’t the protruding back cameras get scratched?
What I want to know is why all chinese phones use the MT6589 proccessor on 1.2ghz?
Why dont they use qualcom 1.5ghz like xiaomi mi2?
To keep costs low
Well…I had a bad experience with this brand and decided NEVER buy a Star phone again. I had one Star A2000 with lcd bug…I simply lost it after 2 months of use.
Totally agree. I bought a Star A1000 (hd7 clone) and the screen was a torture to use. Since then I see first youtube reviews. Anyway, although 200 bucks to another cell phone is cheap for a Star phone is a very risky and expensive bet IMHO.
There at least three different companies making Star branded phones. They all started out as the one company, but in time they split in different companies. For example, one of these companies is Ulefone/Shenzhen Star Technology Co/Gotron who make phone know as Star or iStar brand.
You’re right Roger about Ulefone though I thought Gotron don’t make smartphones? They appear to make TV related devices/accessories?
Ulefone don’t seem to have any kind of web presence whatsoever which is strange these days.
I think that Star/HDC X920 is nicer. It looks more polished and with a better screen. Anyway I like the design of both phones ant they look pretty slim 🙂 I never had a Star phone so I don’t know how good they actually are.
could not agree more, the back plastic look better, i actually bought one x920 on fastcardtech, express delivery, i will make comment here about it if you guys are interested
please write adetail review on performance
The whole deal with the camera sort of makes sense now. Just took the plunge and ordered it on aliexpress with the shopping festtival 20 usd discount of today. Total of 194,- usd including shipping to the Netherlands. About 150 euro.
When it arrives I’ll put up a review somewhere. I really hope the quality doesn’t let me down.
you bought on aliexpress dude good luck really
@Lola: seller has 99,7% positive reviews and 3 days after ordering phone now has status ‘despatched to overseas’ so I guess it’s allright. Have bought phone cases before on AliExpress and that went well. First time 1 week delivery and 2nd time a 2 week delivery with China Post to the Netherlands. Not too bad. I am very careful with ordering and always look at reviews and I always ask questions before ordering to check how the seller communicates. I will report when I recieve the phone. I bought it here:
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/2013-New-MTK6589-Android-4-2-Cheap-phone-S5-Dual-sim-1G-ram-8G-ROM-dual/800196218.html
If I want to i can even use the russian language 🙂
that’s very nice thanks for the answer i guess if you find a reliable supplier then everything will workout fine, i have to say if you google them you’ll find scary reviews but it all depends if the supplier are professional or scammers
Hey, Hoe is het afgelopen met je deal ? Hhoe is de batterij van de telefoon?
How’s the battery life of this phone? I order mine through retailheaven.nl. Premium price, but I avoid customs and get support in the Netherlands (even repairs !). Is there a case which fits?
I’m happy with the phone. Didn’t have to pay taxes luckily so cost me 155,- euros. You can read my remarks in dutch at tweakers.net http://gathering.tweakers.net/forum/list_messages/1520485?data%5Bfilter_keywords%5D=star%20S5&data%5Bboolean%5D=AND
I’m listed there as Wodka the Cat.
You can find some pictures and a video I shot with it at https://plus.google.com/photos/108862374815396385790/albums/5865271548464893169
I also made a comparison picture of the Star S5 alongside a Jiayu G3 to compare sizes.
It’s a good phone. GPS is slow with a fix in 2 minutes. I haven’t rooted it so some tricks that require root might improve that.
Battery is good. You can survive a day with regular/heavy use and 2 days with modest use.
You could buy a case at http://www.aliexpress.com/item/1pcs-lot-Original-protective-case-cover-for-5-0-inch-Star-S5-x920-MTK6589-Quad-Cord/844479655.html
I got one with the seller from aliexpress I got the phone from so I have no experience with this reseller that sells the cases.
The case is not that great. I’m guessing it won’t survive for a year. The edges are coming off. I don’t think it’s real leather either.
Retailheaven is a bit pricey (259,- euro) but for the warrancy it might be handy. If mine breaks I’ll have to throw it in the thrash or resend it to China.
Try to root with MT6589_rooter: sendspace.com/file/um2bxt
About photos and video: never shoot a video in vertical position. You will destroy the power of HD. Also vertical photos are almost stupid but not all the time.
Hi, I see you have also Jiayu G3 phone. Which one do you like better ?
Battery life, Display, Overall ?
I like Star compared to other chinese manufacturers regarding this: silent but working.
So they work, not talk. They are releasing the real thing not “photoshop or spy photos”. They are not spamming internet for months, day by day with some promises and prices.
Because GizChina is more international than chinese I hope they will write an article with the smartphones which are in stores NOW, in stock. And weekly to update the list with a new article. For most people only the list is enough, who is interested can search on Aliexpress for example.
Speaking of Aliexpress you will find the promised $166 JiaYu even at $470. And I am sure that is a preorder. So for who are the benefits of the JiaYu or other manufacturers spam? For the buyers not, for sure.
Nice..
Agree..
Because star always have more stock. Price of this phone never markup up to twice than real price like other dreaming phone. Hehehe
Pandawill just posted a video showing that indeed the 16:9 and 4:3 aspect ratios make the difference and when you select 4:3 you can take pictures of 8 Mp and 12 Mp. That last one is probably interpolated.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0djLeEKNYh0&list=UUIe-yCYD8RfoZmh3I5j-byg&index=1
Nice phone you have gone for – may well be 12MP judging by that. Here’s what I want to know. Does 4.2.2 vanilla ROM + MTK6589 = Miracast??????
Pandawill advise that the ROM has wireless display as an option! Hoping someone can test this out….
You are saying about Miracast?
Miracast is standard in Android 4.2.
This is the reason I want only a smartphone which already have 4.2 installed. I don’t want future promises which maybe will never come.
4.2 or nothing.
OK but for e.g. my Jiayu G3 shipped with 4.0 and Wi-Fi direct in the ROM build. The beta 4.1 update does not have Wi-Fi direct so it is worth checking that the 4.2 built has wireless display enabled IMO.
I saw a review of this phone on youtube and the camera is 6MP not 8MP or 12 MP as advertised
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=rfef5VblDL8#t=679s
The camera was 6 megapixel – because it is set to take a pictures in 16:9, normally, it should be 8 mpix:)
This is probably correct as the similar Star/HDC X920 and UMI S1 can be found listed with 8MP rear and 5MP front but cropped to 16:9 they may be correctly listed as 6MP and 4 MP as the full sensor image is being cropped from 4:3 to 16:9.
The decal on the back for 12:0 will be interpolated/extrapolated 16:9 image i.e. not a lie just marketing fluff.
6MP rear and 4MP front. Also the Google search bar appears to stay as Chinese characters in the ROM on the videos.
I was going to order this, but man, I’m starting to doubt. The specs are off on the box on the video (for instance is says 4,3 inch!!), the phone says 12 Mp camera on the back and it’s really a 6 Mp. How can they be so careless with details?
How do we even know the 2500 mAh battery is real?
Don’t the protruding back cameras get scratched?
I think that Star/HDC X920 is nicer. It looks more polished and with a better screen. Anyway I like the design of both phones ant they look pretty slim 🙂 I never had a Star phone so I don’t know how good they actually are.
could not agree more, the back plastic look better, i actually bought one x920 on fastcardtech, express delivery, i will make comment here about it if you guys are interested
please write adetail review on performance
The whole deal with the camera sort of makes sense now. Just took the plunge and ordered it on aliexpress with the shopping festtival 20 usd discount of today. Total of 194,- usd including shipping to the Netherlands. About 150 euro.
When it arrives I’ll put up a review somewhere. I really hope the quality doesn’t let me down.
you bought on aliexpress dude good luck really
@Lola: seller has 99,7% positive reviews and 3 days after ordering phone now has status ‘despatched to overseas’ so I guess it’s allright. Have bought phone cases before on AliExpress and that went well. First time 1 week delivery and 2nd time a 2 week delivery with China Post to the Netherlands. Not too bad. I am very careful with ordering and always look at reviews and I always ask questions before ordering to check how the seller communicates. I will report when I recieve the phone. I bought it here:
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/2013-New-MTK6589-Android-4-2-Cheap-phone-S5-Dual-sim-1G-ram-8G-ROM-dual/800196218.html
If I want to i can even use the russian language 🙂
that’s very nice thanks for the answer i guess if you find a reliable supplier then everything will workout fine, i have to say if you google them you’ll find scary reviews but it all depends if the supplier are professional or scammers
Hey, Hoe is het afgelopen met je deal ? Hhoe is de batterij van de telefoon?
How’s the battery life of this phone? I order mine through retailheaven.nl. Premium price, but I avoid customs and get support in the Netherlands (even repairs !). Is there a case which fits?
I’m happy with the phone. Didn’t have to pay taxes luckily so cost me 155,- euros. You can read my remarks in dutch at tweakers.net http://gathering.tweakers.net/forum/list_messages/1520485?data%5Bfilter_keywords%5D=star%20S5&data%5Bboolean%5D=AND
I’m listed there as Wodka the Cat.
You can find some pictures and a video I shot with it at https://plus.google.com/photos/108862374815396385790/albums/5865271548464893169
I also made a comparison picture of the Star S5 alongside a Jiayu G3 to compare sizes.
It’s a good phone. GPS is slow with a fix in 2 minutes. I haven’t rooted it so some tricks that require root might improve that.
Battery is good. You can survive a day with regular/heavy use and 2 days with modest use.
You could buy a case at http://www.aliexpress.com/item/1pcs-lot-Original-protective-case-cover-for-5-0-inch-Star-S5-x920-MTK6589-Quad-Cord/844479655.html
I got one with the seller from aliexpress I got the phone from so I have no experience with this reseller that sells the cases.
The case is not that great. I’m guessing it won’t survive for a year. The edges are coming off. I don’t think it’s real leather either.
Retailheaven is a bit pricey (259,- euro) but for the warrancy it might be handy. If mine breaks I’ll have to throw it in the thrash or resend it to China.
Try to root with MT6589_rooter: sendspace.com/file/um2bxt
About photos and video: never shoot a video in vertical position. You will destroy the power of HD. Also vertical photos are almost stupid but not all the time.
Hi, I see you have also Jiayu G3 phone. Which one do you like better ?
Battery life, Display, Overall ?
I like Star compared to other chinese manufacturers regarding this: silent but working.
So they work, not talk. They are releasing the real thing not “photoshop or spy photos”. They are not spamming internet for months, day by day with some promises and prices.
Because GizChina is more international than chinese I hope they will write an article with the smartphones which are in stores NOW, in stock. And weekly to update the list with a new article. For most people only the list is enough, who is interested can search on Aliexpress for example.
Speaking of Aliexpress you will find the promised $166 JiaYu even at $470. And I am sure that is a preorder. So for who are the benefits of the JiaYu or other manufacturers spam? For the buyers not, for sure.
Nice..
Agree..
Because star always have more stock. Price of this phone never markup up to twice than real price like other dreaming phone. Hehehe
Pandawill just posted a video showing that indeed the 16:9 and 4:3 aspect ratios make the difference and when you select 4:3 you can take pictures of 8 Mp and 12 Mp. That last one is probably interpolated.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0djLeEKNYh0&list=UUIe-yCYD8RfoZmh3I5j-byg&index=1
Nice phone you have gone for – may well be 12MP judging by that. Here’s what I want to know. Does 4.2.2 vanilla ROM + MTK6589 = Miracast??????
Pandawill advise that the ROM has wireless display as an option! Hoping someone can test this out….
You are saying about Miracast?
Miracast is standard in Android 4.2.
This is the reason I want only a smartphone which already have 4.2 installed. I don’t want future promises which maybe will never come.
4.2 or nothing.
OK but for e.g. my Jiayu G3 shipped with 4.0 and Wi-Fi direct in the ROM build. The beta 4.1 update does not have Wi-Fi direct so it is worth checking that the 4.2 built has wireless display enabled IMO.
My phone is shipping out today. I’ll post a review and link to it once it arrives. Hopefully it won’t get stuck in customs.
I also ordered an S5 from aliexpress on Saturday. I am still waiting for it to ship. I did pay for the DHL shipping, so I am hoping to have it Friday of next week.
My phone is shipping out today. I’ll post a review and link to it once it arrives. Hopefully it won’t get stuck in customs.
I also ordered an S5 from aliexpress on Saturday. I am still waiting for it to ship. I did pay for the DHL shipping, so I am hoping to have it Friday of next week.
I received my S5 today. I am in Canada, and it will not pickup my SIM signal. It knows it is there, but will not pickup anything. such a shame, because the phone is nice.
Yeah i had star s5 3 months ago and it’s not pickup any sim signal in toronto canada. I tried rogers, fido, chatr and also bell sim not working at all. I bought it from aliexpress with E.T team store, i think they ship shit phones to us in canada. I tested lots of roms but it didn’t work. You guys can download roms from http://www.needrom.com to test out. I posted on facebook to remind those people who plan to buy star s5 and use in canada do not buy it’s not work in
our country. If i found any news or roms and it’s work . Let you guys know
Everything else are working perfect, except sim signal not working. The phone look awesome.
Roger, this is because canda’s Mhz bands are different than the rest of us.
It won’t work in your country, like most china phones
This is simply not true. I have a star n8000, a cubot 8809, a cubot a6589 and a lenovo k900 and they all work fine in canada on rogers and only the cubot a6589 doesn’t work on bell. My star s5 on the other hand, will not connect to bell or rogers.
I did find a sim card that works in canada it took me a week to find one that works I got it at 7-ELEVEN and it’s called “SpeakOut 7-Eleven” it will pick it up as Rogers (which is not Rogers it’s 7-Eleven) and if you go to 7-Eleven it’s only $10 for the sim
I got it working yesterday and i’m texting my friends now on it hope this helps 🙂
I received my S5 today. I am in Canada, and it will not pickup my SIM signal. It knows it is there, but will not pickup anything. such a shame, because the phone is nice.
Yeah i had star s5 3 months ago and it’s not pickup any sim signal in toronto canada. I tried rogers, fido, chatr and also bell sim not working at all. I bought it from aliexpress with E.T team store, i think they ship shit phones to us in canada. I tested lots of roms but it didn’t work. You guys can download roms from http://www.needrom.com to test out. I posted on facebook to remind those people who plan to buy star s5 and use in canada do not buy it’s not work in
our country. If i found any news or roms and it’s work . Let you guys know
Everything else are working perfect, except sim signal not working. The phone look awesome.
Roger, this is because canda’s Mhz bands are different than the rest of us.
It won’t work in your country, like most china phones
This is simply not true. I have a star n8000, a cubot 8809, a cubot a6589 and a lenovo k900 and they all work fine in canada on rogers and only the cubot a6589 doesn’t work on bell. My star s5 on the other hand, will not connect to bell or rogers.
I did find a sim card that works in canada it took me a week to find one that works I got it at 7-ELEVEN and it’s called “SpeakOut 7-Eleven” it will pick it up as Rogers (which is not Rogers it’s 7-Eleven) and if you go to 7-Eleven it’s only $10 for the sim
I got it working yesterday and i’m texting my friends now on it hope this helps 🙂
That’s not so good. Hopefully just a setting or did you try both sim slots? How’s the rest of the phone? GPS, camera, sound, screen?
That’s not so good. Hopefully just a setting or did you try both sim slots? How’s the rest of the phone? GPS, camera, sound, screen?
May I please ask you to give me information on how the video recording on Star S5 Butterfly performs?
Is it 1080p video recording or less?
I am about to buy a new phone for myself and I am deciding between Star S5 , Star x920, HDC x920e and Newman N2.Also what is the difference between the HTC Butterfly clones? The big question is this – is Newman N2 better than the Butterfly copies? I mean the Newman CPU seems better based on Antutu scores and it seems to record 1080p.
I would be really happy if you reply because I want to order this week. Thank you!
May I please ask you to give me information on how the video recording on Star S5 Butterfly performs?
Is it 1080p video recording or less?
I am about to buy a new phone for myself and I am deciding between Star S5 , Star x920, HDC x920e and Newman N2.Also what is the difference between the HTC Butterfly clones? The big question is this – is Newman N2 better than the Butterfly copies? I mean the Newman CPU seems better based on Antutu scores and it seems to record 1080p.
I would be really happy if you reply because I want to order this week. Thank you!
@Spinning Cat. I tried to setup the GPS, and it also will not work. I have tried 3 different network SIM cards (TELUS, BELL and Rogers) and it will not pickup anything.. The device itself is good, the sound seems fine, and the screen is very nice. the size of it is also way smaller than my Galaxy Note i717. It seems basically like I am going to be using it for a video player/audio player. Maybe even give it to my kids to use.
@m2iceman I have not tested the video function, as I have been trying to get the phone working as an actual phone.. which has not worked at all.
@Spinning Cat. I tried to setup the GPS, and it also will not work. I have tried 3 different network SIM cards (TELUS, BELL and Rogers) and it will not pickup anything.. The device itself is good, the sound seems fine, and the screen is very nice. the size of it is also way smaller than my Galaxy Note i717. It seems basically like I am going to be using it for a video player/audio player. Maybe even give it to my kids to use.
@m2iceman I have not tested the video function, as I have been trying to get the phone working as an actual phone.. which has not worked at all.
Recieved mine also.. SIM is working. I have a regular SIM that can be converted into a micro SIM, but I tried slot 2 first. That works well, even with 3G.
It can record video in full HD. Quality of video and pictures look pretty good at the camera itself at least. I can’t get the GPS to work also. I will try to get a signal tody again. I read somewhere that sometimes the first fix takes a long time so I’m hoping that’s it.
Phone looks better IRL than on the pictures. The back is a fingerprint magnet though.
The screen looks great. Maybe even a little better that our G3 in house.
The flipcase is buttugly brown. Wish it was black…:-(
It has a lot of chinese apps. Not all can be removed without root but ofcourse van be disabled. I disabled Baidu search and installed Google Now so now no more chinese searchbar at my home screen but the regular Google Now one.
Great that Google Now solves Chinese character search bar.
Is the weather widget a stock 4.2 jelly bean thing? I’m on 4.1 beta on G3 and don’t have that.
I’m not sure. It was preinstalled so I guess so.
@Pete: the wireless display option is available. I just can’t test if it actually works because I don’t have another Miracast device.
Would you be able to share the .apk of the weather app/widget please?
GPS signal worked after driving around on my bike for 5 minutes. Hopefully that improves from now. GPS keeps being the weak spot with these chinese phones, I guess.
Recieved mine also.. SIM is working. I have a regular SIM that can be converted into a micro SIM, but I tried slot 2 first. That works well, even with 3G.
It can record video in full HD. Quality of video and pictures look pretty good at the camera itself at least. I can’t get the GPS to work also. I will try to get a signal tody again. I read somewhere that sometimes the first fix takes a long time so I’m hoping that’s it.
Phone looks better IRL than on the pictures. The back is a fingerprint magnet though.
The screen looks great. Maybe even a little better that our G3 in house.
The flipcase is buttugly brown. Wish it was black…:-(
It has a lot of chinese apps. Not all can be removed without root but ofcourse van be disabled. I disabled Baidu search and installed Google Now so now no more chinese searchbar at my home screen but the regular Google Now one.
Great that Google Now solves Chinese character search bar.
Is the weather widget a stock 4.2 jelly bean thing? I’m on 4.1 beta on G3 and don’t have that.
I’m not sure. It was preinstalled so I guess so.
@Pete: the wireless display option is available. I just can’t test if it actually works because I don’t have another Miracast device.
Would you be able to share the .apk of the weather app/widget please?
GPS signal worked after driving around on my bike for 5 minutes. Hopefully that improves from now. GPS keeps being the weak spot with these chinese phones, I guess.
Spinning Cat, is the camera really 12.6Megapixels? I’ll buy a phone like that too. I never had bouht clone phones before xD it will be the first time, I hope not having problems with that chinese brand
I have tried everything to get GPS working, and it just will not work 🙁 Hopefully they will accept a return.
Spinning cat, how is the battery life?
Thanks
Spinning Cat, is the camera really 12.6Megapixels? I’ll buy a phone like that too. I never had bouht clone phones before xD it will be the first time, I hope not having problems with that chinese brand
I have tried everything to get GPS working, and it just will not work 🙁 Hopefully they will accept a return.
Spinning cat, how is the battery life?
Thanks
@Bowserm. That’s bad luck with your phone.
@Mihail: the camera is a real 8 MP for 4:3 pictures and 6MP for 16:9 pictures.The camera intrapolates to 13 MP for 4:3 pictures, not for 16:9 pictures.
The battery life is OK as long as you don’t leave stuff like GPS and wireless on all the time. I haven’t tested yet how long a full load lasts, but my best guess is that you can survive a day easily as long as you don’t play games and watch movies all day.
I must say I’m glad this phone has a 2500 mAh battery. I was thinking about the ThL W8, but that one only has a 2000 mAh battery. I think for a 5″ screen you really do need at least 2.500 mAh. Anything under that would make me worry too much whether my phone would last a full day.
As a tip: in Android 4.2 you can set auto shutdown and start option times for specified days. I use it to shutdown my phone at 23:00 and start at 7:00. Saves some energy and I don’t want to be disturbed by my phone at night anyway.
Is the front camera 5mp?
“The camera intrapolates to 13 MP for 4:3 pictures” what are you meaning with that?
The camera is 8 MP. With built in software it boosts the resolution to 12 MP but only for pictures that you take in 4:3 ratio. Pictures you take in 16:9 ratio will not intrapolate and are max 6 MP in size.
so the hardware is a 8mp cam right?
The front camera It’s 5 MP for 4:3 size and 4 MP for fullscreen. I can’t tell if it’s intrapolated or not.
@Bowserm: just s stupid remark, but did you enable roaming? That was my wife’s problem with a non connecting phone 2 months back. Enabling roaming fixed that…
@Bowserm. That’s bad luck with your phone.
@Mihail: the camera is a real 8 MP for 4:3 pictures and 6MP for 16:9 pictures.The camera intrapolates to 13 MP for 4:3 pictures, not for 16:9 pictures.
The battery life is OK as long as you don’t leave stuff like GPS and wireless on all the time. I haven’t tested yet how long a full load lasts, but my best guess is that you can survive a day easily as long as you don’t play games and watch movies all day.
I must say I’m glad this phone has a 2500 mAh battery. I was thinking about the ThL W8, but that one only has a 2000 mAh battery. I think for a 5″ screen you really do need at least 2.500 mAh. Anything under that would make me worry too much whether my phone would last a full day.
As a tip: in Android 4.2 you can set auto shutdown and start option times for specified days. I use it to shutdown my phone at 23:00 and start at 7:00. Saves some energy and I don’t want to be disturbed by my phone at night anyway.
Is the front camera 5mp?
“The camera intrapolates to 13 MP for 4:3 pictures” what are you meaning with that?
The camera is 8 MP. With built in software it boosts the resolution to 12 MP but only for pictures that you take in 4:3 ratio. Pictures you take in 16:9 ratio will not intrapolate and are max 6 MP in size.
so the hardware is a 8mp cam right?
The front camera It’s 5 MP for 4:3 size and 4 MP for fullscreen. I can’t tell if it’s intrapolated or not.
@Bowserm: just s stupid remark, but did you enable roaming? That was my wife’s problem with a non connecting phone 2 months back. Enabling roaming fixed that…
@spinning cat: as it is with gps? fully works?
Yeah. My GPS works. Without e-gps and a-gps it takes about 2 minutes to find a signal outside while driving. Inside doesn’t work. I haven’t tried with a-gps and e-gps on yet.
@ Mihail: yes, the camera is 8 MP. The boost to 12 MP is purely software.
@spinning cat: as it is with gps? fully works?
Yeah. My GPS works. Without e-gps and a-gps it takes about 2 minutes to find a signal outside while driving. Inside doesn’t work. I haven’t tried with a-gps and e-gps on yet.
@ Mihail: yes, the camera is 8 MP. The boost to 12 MP is purely software.
@Spinning Cat, no I have not been able to get it working. I am currently trying to get a refund, but the seller from aliexpress keeps asking me question after question for me to try to get it working. I have a feeling I will not be getting back my money on this one.
@Spinning Cat, no I have not been able to get it working. I am currently trying to get a refund, but the seller from aliexpress keeps asking me question after question for me to try to get it working. I have a feeling I will not be getting back my money on this one.
@Spinning Cat, it is dual sim ACTIVE, or dual sim STAND-BY?
Thanks!
Th at sticks, Bowser. Your phone company is no help either? Maybe your frequency is just not supported or the phone really is faulty. XrainX: I only use one sim so I wouldn’t know. Can I find out without having to use 2 sims?
For testing you must use 2 SIM cards. But russians are saying all MT6589 until now are all just dual sim Stand-by and until now seems that Mediatek was lying about the Active feature.
@Spinning Cat, it is dual sim ACTIVE, or dual sim STAND-BY?
Thanks!
Th at sticks, Bowser. Your phone company is no help either? Maybe your frequency is just not supported or the phone really is faulty. XrainX: I only use one sim so I wouldn’t know. Can I find out without having to use 2 sims?
For testing you must use 2 SIM cards. But russians are saying all MT6589 until now are all just dual sim Stand-by and until now seems that Mediatek was lying about the Active feature.
@Bowserm: did you try both SIM slots? I got into engineer mode with *#*#3646633#*#*and values for both SIM slots are different.
SIM 2 (the regular one) only has EGSM900, DCS1800, PCS1900 and GSM850 listed. So only GSM mode.
SIM 1 (the microSIM) also has UMTS mode listed…
No I’m wondering myself. I am using SIM 2 and the data connection shows the letters R3G across the icon in the top bar. That does mean working over 3G, right? I might just convert my regular SIM into a microSIM (premade in my SIM so no cutting along selfmade lines) to put it in slot 1 and see what happens.
does it have magnetic sensor (e-compass working ?) Just want to order this phone if it has magnetic sensor.
yep.
@Bowserm: did you try both SIM slots? I got into engineer mode with *#*#3646633#*#*and values for both SIM slots are different.
SIM 2 (the regular one) only has EGSM900, DCS1800, PCS1900 and GSM850 listed. So only GSM mode.
SIM 1 (the microSIM) also has UMTS mode listed…
No I’m wondering myself. I am using SIM 2 and the data connection shows the letters R3G across the icon in the top bar. That does mean working over 3G, right? I might just convert my regular SIM into a microSIM (premade in my SIM so no cutting along selfmade lines) to put it in slot 1 and see what happens.
does it have magnetic sensor (e-compass working ?) Just want to order this phone if it has magnetic sensor.
yep.
Does a 32gb micro sd card work with this phone, or is 16gb as high as it can go? I’m confused reading the specs on different sites, some say 32gb and some say 16gb.
Does a 32gb micro sd card work with this phone, or is 16gb as high as it can go? I’m confused reading the specs on different sites, some say 32gb and some say 16gb.
When I purchased the phone direct from Ulefone, I had to make the payment to Gotron Electronic Co.
Ulefone do have a website in Chinese – ule-star.com
When I purchased the phone direct from Ulefone, I had to make the payment to Gotron Electronic Co.
Ulefone do have a website in Chinese – ule-star.com
i have problem whith slot sim 2
it not work, i need help for it pls
i have problem whith slot sim 2
it not work, i need help for it pls
Hey, I need new rooms. My device is changing MAC Address Randomly. And here I use MAC filter thing. Does anyone knows the official MIZ website?
I have another MT6589 Android 4.2 smartphone and I have the same problem.
So I think is an Android 4.2 problem.
It is not correct for a component to change its MAC address and should be fixed, unique.
Hey my man, got good news. On latest ROM release (at needRom.com) a bunch of bugs were solved. Like WiFi, GSM/GPRS/GPS communication, freezing screen etc.
After a while searching for ways to root/recovery/bootloader etc I figured out that it’s easy to do this all… Keep trying man 😀
Hey, I need new rooms. My device is changing MAC Address Randomly. And here I use MAC filter thing. Does anyone knows the official MIZ website?
I have another MT6589 Android 4.2 smartphone and I have the same problem.
So I think is an Android 4.2 problem.
It is not correct for a component to change its MAC address and should be fixed, unique.
Hey my man, got good news. On latest ROM release (at needRom.com) a bunch of bugs were solved. Like WiFi, GSM/GPRS/GPS communication, freezing screen etc.
After a while searching for ways to root/recovery/bootloader etc I figured out that it’s easy to do this all… Keep trying man 😀
My Star S5 seems to have a network loss issue. Seems to be switching from H+ to 3G and then totally loss of network. When I off 3G service then 2G kicks in for awhile.
Using SIM Slot 1 micro sim card. Singapore Singtel service. Was to told to send back phone. But not sure if its just a software setting issue.
Totally loss what to to? Anyone could help me?
Search for Star S5 and 4PDA, on their firmware page there is a collection of baseband versions flash and try different ones until you find the right for you.
My Star S5 seems to have a network loss issue. Seems to be switching from H+ to 3G and then totally loss of network. When I off 3G service then 2G kicks in for awhile.
Using SIM Slot 1 micro sim card. Singapore Singtel service. Was to told to send back phone. But not sure if its just a software setting issue.
Totally loss what to to? Anyone could help me?
Search for Star S5 and 4PDA, on their firmware page there is a collection of baseband versions flash and try different ones until you find the right for you.
For roms& custom unofficial firmware, Go to :
Needrom.com
for choosing seller to buy things from china(tablets/smartphones), Go for these stores on aliexpress :
I have tt and bank transfer money to them with no problem as to stealing or things like that,because this way, you can ask for 5% discount(which is equal to aliexpress commission)….. PLZ SPREAD THE WORDS of these companies as trusted sellers, everywhere, as many don’t know who to choose and trust among all those sellers, they price is also the best
You may copy – paste these sellers anywhere you deem fit for others to benefit from them too
Grace company / Grace Co. LTD (the company, most I am working with, seller name is nizer)
Apollo (solely Smartphones)
1% profit 100% satisfaction
Dandan wu
Chengze Digital
Nitro International
For roms& custom unofficial firmware, Go to :
Needrom.com
for choosing seller to buy things from china(tablets/smartphones), Go for these stores on aliexpress :
I have tt and bank transfer money to them with no problem as to stealing or things like that,because this way, you can ask for 5% discount(which is equal to aliexpress commission)….. PLZ SPREAD THE WORDS of these companies as trusted sellers, everywhere, as many don’t know who to choose and trust among all those sellers, they price is also the best
You may copy – paste these sellers anywhere you deem fit for others to benefit from them too
Grace company / Grace Co. LTD (the company, most I am working with, seller name is nizer)
Apollo (solely Smartphones)
1% profit 100% satisfaction
Dandan wu
Chengze Digital
Nitro International
Star X920/S5 (aka HTC butterfly clone) DO NOT BUY
It has horrible network connection problem and only work with some carrier. It can detect the sim card but fails to connect to the carrier. I returned the phone to the shop and the shopkeeper tested FIVE x920 in front of me and they all failed!
I also have poor experience with a Star Note2 clone earlier. The screen sensentivity was screwed up and google map “jumps” around when zoom in/out.
My conclusion is that Star brand phones are all piece of junks. Please beware as Star also make phones using diff brand names now.
This is fixed by fiddling with different baseband versions until you find the correct one. Screen works well (tested on S5).
It is true that it has horrible network connection.Its Wi-Fi signal is very weak!!!Its camera also sucks!!Its photos are not clear.The camera of this phone has dissapointed me a lot.Only video recording has good analysis (720p).Although it is supposed that its camera for taking photos is 13 MP,the photos are not clear!!
In a few words it doesnt worth its price!!
Star X920/S5 (aka HTC butterfly clone) DO NOT BUY
It has horrible network connection problem and only work with some carrier. It can detect the sim card but fails to connect to the carrier. I returned the phone to the shop and the shopkeeper tested FIVE x920 in front of me and they all failed!
I also have poor experience with a Star Note2 clone earlier. The screen sensentivity was screwed up and google map “jumps” around when zoom in/out.
My conclusion is that Star brand phones are all piece of junks. Please beware as Star also make phones using diff brand names now.
This is fixed by fiddling with different baseband versions until you find the correct one. Screen works well (tested on S5).
It is true that it has horrible network connection.Its Wi-Fi signal is very weak!!!Its camera also sucks!!Its photos are not clear.The camera of this phone has dissapointed me a lot.Only video recording has good analysis (720p).Although it is supposed that its camera for taking photos is 13 MP,the photos are not clear!!
In a few words it doesnt worth its price!!